January 13
Reading: Psalm 72
A Psalm of Solomon.
1 Give the king Your judgments, O God,
And Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge Your people with righteousness
And Your afflicted with justice.
3 Let the mountains bring peace to the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
4 May he vindicate the afflicted of the people,
Save the children of the needy
And crush the oppressor.
5 Let them fear You while the sun endures,
And as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
6 May he come down like rain upon the mown grass,
Like showers that water the earth.
7 In his days may the righteous flourish,
And abundance of peace till the moon is no more.
8 May he also rule from sea to sea
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 Let the nomads of the desert bow before him,
And his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11 And let all kings bow down before him,
All nations serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help,
The afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy,
And the lives of the needy he will save.
14 He will rescue their life from oppression and violence,
And their blood will be precious in his sight;
15 So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him;
And let them pray for him continually;
Let them bless him all day long.
16 May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains;
Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon;
And may those from the city flourish like vegetation of the earth.
17 May his name endure forever;
May his name increase as long as the sun shines;
And let men bless themselves by him;
Let all nations call him blessed.
18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,
Who alone works wonders.
19 And blessed be His glorious name forever;
And may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen, and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
Psalm 72 is here presented in the NASB translation. I like it better in this case. This psalm is attributed to Solomon, but it was certainly written by another for Solomon. Possibly King David wrote it for his son before he died. I like to think so.
It is a prayer of blessing over the king and his country. We see here the ideal picture of what the king and his kingdom ought to look like. In this sense, it is ultimately a prayer for the Messianic reign of Jesus over all the nations. This prayer will never be fully answered until Jesus’ reign covers the earth.
What will the Kingdom of God ultimately be like? Its character will be righteousness. Its nature will be compassion. Its duration will be endless. Its expanse will be universal. Its blessing will be prosperity for all people. All this is because the creator of the universe is willing and able to create such a kingdom and govern it perfectly, for the praise of His glory that will fill the earth. (vs. 19)
Notice, in verses 4 and 12-14, that the role of king over Israel is not only to look grand, make enemies bow, bring peace, and manage the economy. The king is to save the afflicted and the children of the needy. He is to have compassion on the poor. Is this God’s standard for a good king? What king can be like this? King Jesus is like this. Consider verse 17.
Verses 18-19 serve as the benediction for book 2 of the Psalter, like Psalm 41:13 was for book 1.
Verse 20 tells us that, with the conclusion of book 2 of Psalms, we are through with David’s psalms. Though there will be a handful of psalms attributed to David still to come, the focus of the Psalter will move on from King David.